Preface

For several years now, many people involved with computing and the Internet 

have harbored hopes that Linux might become a viable end user operating 

system choice for a broader segment of general purpose end users. At the same 

time there has been growing frustration with the problems and limitations of the 

current commercial desktop OS choices. In turn this frustration has fueled a 

greater need in the market for alternative desktop operating system choices. At 

the same time, Linux based desktop oriented distributions have improved 

tremendously as a result of the inclusive and open ended dynamics of the open 

source development movement.

The goal of this IBM Redbook is to provide a technical planning reference for IT 

organizations large or small that are now considering a migration to Linux based 

personal computers. For Linux, there is a tremendous amount of  how to  

information available online that addresses specific and very technical operating 

system configuration issues, platform specific installation methods, user 

interface customizations, etc. This redbook includes some technical  how to  as 

well, but the overall focus of the content in this book is to walk the reader through 

some of the important considerations and planning issues you could encounter 

during a migration project. Within the context of a pre existing Microsoft 

Windows based environment, we attempt to present a more holistic, end to end 

view of the technical challenges and methods necessary to complete a 

successful migration to Linux based clients.

The team that wrote this redbook

This redbook was produced by a team of specialists from around the world 

working at the International Technical Support Organization, Austin Center.

Chris Almond 

is a Project Leader and IT Architect based in the Austin, Texas 

ITSO center. He has a total of 14 years of IT industry experience, including the 

last five with IBM. His experience includes UNIX/Linux systems engineering, 

network engineering, Lotus Domino based content management solutions, and 

Websphere Portal based solution design.

Art Cannon

 is a Consultant and Linux Team Leader in the IBM Global 

e business Solution Center in Roanoke, Texas. His career with IBM began in 

1977, and has included positions in manufacturing, development, education, and 

sales. In 1987 he joined the Sales & Distribution organization as an Area 

Designated Specialist for AIX. In 1993 he joined the Open Systems Center in 

  Copyright IBM Corp. 2004. All rights reserved.

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